Refugee, SU student speaks out against Trump's new travel ban

Public debate continues in Syracuse about President Donald Trump's policies, including his newly ordered travel ban. The executive action temporary suspends the visa process for six majority-Muslim nations and refugees.

Khadijo Abdulkadir, 23, was born in a refugee camp in Kenya. She came to the U.S. in 2009 and is a student at Syracuse University. Abdulkadir is Somalian, which is one of the banned countries. She spoke to a crowd of demonstrators in Syracuse sharing her story, and saying how Trump’s ban personally affects her. She said she does not know if more of her family members will be able to come to the U.S.

“What they don’t understand is people are losing their lives," Abdulkadir said. "If somebody is bleeding and I said let’s wait for the next day, are you expecting that person to survive? Kids are dying that could have been saved if they were able to travel to the U.S. How can you watch somebody die because of hunger? It doesn’t make sense to me. I wish I can do something about it. I, as an individual, may not be able to do it. At least organizing the community, working with the people, having the voice out there will make something possible. That’s my hope.”

The protest was another one organized by Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner who said there are real victims to Trump’s actions in the city. Trump’s new travel ban was scaled back from one he ordered in January, which was blocked by federal judges.

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Every week, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner hosts a protest against President Donald Trump focusing on how Trump’s actions affect local residents. Each rally deals with a specific issue like healthcare, climate change, and most recently immigration. A few Trump supporters have been coming to the protests and Miner has defended their right to speak up in favor of the president. After last week's rally, two central New York women, Tina Higgins of Syracuse and Carol Puschaver of Liverpool, have very different points of view but started having a conversation.

Immigration activists in Syracuse say no undocumented immigrant is safe under President Donald Trump’s executive order to speed up deportations.

Aly Wane of Syracuse said Trump’s order widens the definition of a criminal alien to include anyone who is undocumented.

“Like, for example, someone who is a visa-overstay is considered a criminal alien now or someone who crosses the border for the first time is now considered a criminal alien whereas before it was simply a civil offense,” Wane said.